London sound: The best new music and club gigs this week, including Bloc Party, Chvches and Savages

Bloc Party

From guitar music’s great hopes for the future to the verge of splitting up, Bloc Party went through it all in six short years.

They’ve reconvened, though, found their mojo once more and are set to storm London and make a statement.

Since Kele Okereke and the boys leaped into the public’s attention with single Little Thoughts back in 2004, Bloc Party were the ones to save indie music with their jagged, angular sounds.

They were more left-leaning than contemporaries The Futureheads and more intellectual than Kaiser Chiefs (both of whom they shared a stage with on 2005’s NME Awards tour).

Their debut Silent Alarm crashed the UK top 10, as singles Helicopter and Banquet became indie night staples.

They followed it up with two more albums, but each moved the band further and further away from their indie guitar origins, and then it all went tits up.

Kele abandoned the Bloc-ship to go it alone, hanging up his guitar to take third album Intimacy’s electro-synth sounds to their logical conclusion on his debut solo offering, The Boxer. It was a success and went top 20.

However, as if he had purged this from his system, and after reports of the band continuing without him did the rounds, the foursome came back as quickly as they had seemed to implode, with last year’s Four showing a rougher, harder-rocking edge that they’d previously jettisoned a long time back – lead single Kettling has an alt-rock guitar solo that absolutely screeches.

Chvrches

This synth-pop three-piece are another example of some of the top sounds coming out of Glasgow right now.

Forget the maudlin wailing of past dour indie bands, this lot have written one of the most uplifting Eighties-styled anthems to touch your ears in years with debut single The Mother We Share. An absolute treat.

Layo and Bushwacka’s 2013 opening party

In their first party of 2013, Layo and Bushwacka, whose fourth album Rising And Falling was out last year, welcome Ewan Pearson (he’s remixed for the likes of Depeche Mode and Metronomy), and Terry Francis, who’s been tearing up dance floors for the past 10 years before finding his recent ‘instant’ fame.

No Fit State

Mulletover are keeping it simple with a small party and a big line-up.

House and tehno head Ellen Allien (above), who’s been DJ-ing round the world for the past 20 years, is the big headline attraction, with one-time Hacienda resident Simon Baker and underground pioneer Geddes swiftly behind.

NME Awards Tour

This year’s line-up of superstars-to-be is as eclectic and diverse as we’ve come to expect from that lot over at NME.

Edinburgh left-field indie troupe Django Django (nothing to do with Tarantino) headline, with Miles Kane, indie-punk upstarts Palma Violets and psych-rockers Peace along for the presumably riotous ride.